Chosen Path
by Zardas1010
Summary: A strange dream leads to a confrontation with a demon from Gale's past. He will have to overcome this old evil, before moving on. As more and more is revealed to him, one question dominates his entire being: What is he?
1. Chapter 1

_Chosen Path-_

_Prologue_

"Did you really think, you could defy me? I'm disappointed, Gale, I thought you were smarter.", the god mocked him and Gale gritted his teeth, only Raiden and him were left standing, the others were in no condition to fight on.

"If you know me so well, then you should know, that I never back down, no matter what.", Gale spat back and the god chuckled.

"Too true, you always fought those stronger then you and lost in the end. But tell me, how will you fight back now? You don't even compare to 1% of me. I have more power in my pinkie, then you in your entire body. You're mortal without me."

A smile crept onto Gale's face. "Have you forgotten, that we share a mother? I'm not just mortal." He looked over to Raiden. The white-haired saijan's shirt was torn and he looked worse for wear, but a fire burned in his eyes.

"We're both more then mortal. I'm ready, if you are, Gale.", Raiden said and a blue flame covered his body and, after it had peeled away, he stood there, his hair now a deep blue.

Gale nodded, before a red flame engulfed him and left his hair a fiery red. The young warriors charged the god, who smirked at their futile attempt. He slipped through their strikes, not even breaking a sweat. "What's wrong? You were faster before. Could you have already reached your limit?" He sent Gale flying with a kick, before catching a punch sent by Raiden. "I'm disappointed, truly, you saiyans are known for exceeding expectations, after all." He sighed. "Oh well, and here I was, hoping that I could have some fun." He raised his other hand and drove it into Raiden's gut, causing him to drop back to his base form, before trowing him away. He turned towards Gale, who had charged him again, taking his hook on the chin. "Is that really all you have? I'll give you one last chance.", he said and jumped backwards. "Pour all you remaining ki into one devastating attack, show me your determination! You stood against a god once, with nothing but your will left, surely you can do so again."

Gale snarled, but raised his hands. In each of them a red orb appeared. "Valor Rush!", he screamed, pushing both of his hands forward

A red beam shot towards the god, a manic smile on his face. "Good, give me everything you have!", he laughed, raising his left hand. "Do you remember this one? Your father used it, but I shall succeed, where he failed.", he said, as a blue orb appeared in his hand. He threw towards Gale's beam and the two ki blasts clashed. Gale could feel his strength draining from his body, he legs started shaking, sweat was pouring from his body, but he pushed on, his beam slowly moving forward. The god laughed again. "Yes, show me your strength, Gale Dreemur." He raised his other hand. "Mind if I turn up the heat?", he asked and pushed harder, his small ki blasts closing in on Gale.

Gale dropped to one knee, struggling to keep going, his eyes wandering to his defeated friends. Raiden was lying on the ground, not moving, but Gale could feel, that he was alive. Ganon was clutching his broken arm, the Gerudo unable to mend his wound, even with the Triforce. Erik looked back at him and shook his head. A white puddle surrounded him, the remains of Abyss, the creature that had given him strength. Gale reverted to his base form, his beam subsiding, barely keeping the god's ki blast away.

"I hoped, that I could push you further with this, but it seems there is nothing left you can give, a shame. Goodbye, old friend." He pushed harder and the ki blast exploded. Kazuya was flung backwards, his vision getting blurry, but a faint voice called out to him.

"You can't give up now, brother! Keep fighting! You must protect them."

He looked up. The god had made his way over to his friends, but turned to look at him again. "You're not dead? Well, I guess it allows you to see, what your failure entails." He raised his hand and pointed it at Raiden. "Farewell, Raiden, Protector of Inaba. Hakai!" Before Gale's eyes, Raiden's body vanished, leaving no trace of the warrior. He turned to Ganon. "Farewell, Ganondorf Dragmire, Bearer of the Triforce. Your family will know of your deeds. Hakai!" Ganon looked at Gale with a somber smile, as he faded away as well. Finally, the god turned to Kazuya. "Farewell, Erik O'Connor and Abyss, the symbiote , your deeds will not be forgotten. Hakai!"

"I guess he was too much for us." He looked at Gale. "Don't blame yourself, you gave us a choice and we followed your call. Farewell, my friend."

His last ally, as well as the puddle, that had been Abyss, vanished and the god approached Gale. Gale stared up at him. "You fought well, Gale. I will spare you having to watch me erase everyone you love." He raised his hand, but before he could say the word, Gale got back on his feet, his eyes cast downward. The god smiled. "Rather die one your feet, huh? Your last bit of determination, I guess? Very admirable, but it won't be enough. Hakai!"

Gale could feel the destruction energy tear at his very soul, biting at it, trying to tear it apart. He fell to his knees again, as he felt cracks appearing in his soul. And then it broke apart. His soul was split in two, but it didn't fade, a last lingering bit of determination clinging to life.

"Come on, are you serious?! Where is your pride?! You're one of us, don't embarrass our race!", he heard a gruff voice.

"C'mon, kiddo, I know you better than that, give him the bad time he deserves. Don't give up.", a another voice chimed in.

"My child, I know how strong you are, don't lose hope.", a sweet and caring voice added.

"Human, you can't lose now. I need to serve you my latest spaghetti creation, after all."

"Get up, Gale, think of all the training we did! You're not going to back down against this punk, are you?!"

"Come one now, darling, the show must go on. I may be an incredible machine, but you are the true star here."

"Gale, you need to stay determined. For those you love, keep fighting on!"

Then, he heard his brother again. "Show him what you've got Gale, you need to keep going. I know you can do it, you never back down and we're all with you, you're not alone." 

And finally, he heard a faint voice, that grew louder, as it sang.

_You are the ocean's gray waves,_

_Destined to seek_

_Life beyond the shore_

_Just out of reach_

_Yet the waters ever change,_

_Flowing like time_

_The path is yours to climb_

_In endless dreams,_

_Countless realms collide_

_Hope falls only to rise_

_Like the changing tide_

_But all dreams come to an end,_

_Just whispers on the wind_

_Sing with me one last time,_

_For light's sacrifice,_

_Endless dawn came_

_But not without a price_

_Lost in the waves_

_There glimmers,_

_A pale blue stone._

_I think of you, all alone_

A smile crept on Gale's face. "Thank you, everyone.", he whispered, before looking up, his eyes now gray. "I refuse!", he bellowed and the two halves of his soul fused together again.

The god looked at him, hate and confusion in his eyes. "'You refuse'? How can you keep going? Why do you keep going? There is nothing left for you! I erased your allies, the world you've come to know and love, was gone long before our fight started! And what about your loved ones? They don't even remember you.", the god spat at Gale.

Gale smiled. "You're wrong, they're still with me. I'll always keep fighting for them!" Slowly, Gale back to his feet, his legs still shaking. "All my life, I have faced foe after foe. And not once did I back down." He raised his fists, a strange glow surrounding him. "So, I'll keep fighting, with everything I have. If it kills me, so be it, but I'll make sure to take you down with me!" He threw a quick punch. The god didn't see it coming and stumbled backwards, his own gray eyes turning black for a moment.

"How!? You shouldn't have this power, it's reserved for true gods! You're not one of us!", he screamed, panic in his voice.

Gale laughed. "What's wrong, afraid of a mortal? My instincts scream for me to fight and I'll gladly listen! Come now, come and face my Ultra Instinct!", Gale bellowed, before he charged his enemy.

**AN: Hi, everyone, Zardas here with a new story. I'll be writing this one alongside 'Of Power, Wisdom and Courage', so don't worry, I'm not going to abandon. **

**Just a few little things. I didn't give any details to the song used in this chapter, as it would spoil the story, if you knew, who sang it and where it came from. For all other songs, I might use in this story, I will give both the title and the artist at least.**

**Second, I'll be uploading chapter 2 immediately after this and I'll also write chapter 3, before working on chapter 9 for OPWC. **

**Fell free to ask, if there is something you don't understand. I'd also like to give everyone a chance to submit ideas for special attack names for Gale, along with a little explanation what kind of attack the name would be for.**

**Thank you and Zardas out!**


	2. Chapter 2

_Chosen Path-_

_Chapter 1_

Gale opened his eyes. He was in the judgement hall and Sans was standing in its middle, his eyes closed. "Sans? What's going one? What are we doing here?", he asked and the skeleton opened his eyes.

"Back again, huh? You don't give up, do you?", Sans asked and Gale felt his face twist into a smile.

"Oh, you know me, comedian, that's my thing. I'm determined to take you down!", Gale heard himself say and gasped, he knew what was about to happen.

Sans chuckled. "Eager as always, I see. Well, if you're dying to get this started again, I won't keep you you waiting." He closed his eyes again. "It's a beautiful day outside, birds are singing, flowers are blooming. On days like this, kids like you, should be burning in hell!", he yelled at the end, his eyes snapping open and the left one, shining eerily.

Chara charged forward, swinging Gale's fists at the skeleton, but Sans, as always, dodged the attack. "What's wrong, buddy, is something a-miss?", Sans grinned, before sending bones at his assailant. Chara ducked under them, before jumping at the skeleton, pushing his right knee forward, but missed again. "Whoops, looks like I'm knee-deep in trouble.", the skeleton, who had teleported behind Chara, laughed. Chara snarled and turned around, delivering a fierce roundhouse kick at the same time.

"Enough with your goddamn puns already!", he roared, as Sans ducked under the kick, but as he came up again, another kick sent him flying. He coughed, as he tried to get back his feet, but couldn't. Chara took a deep breath, before walking to to the skeleton. "Huh, thought you only had one HP. Guess I was wrong." A grin spread across his face. "So, this is the end of our little dance, huh? I'm disappointed, Sans. Weren't you going to give me a bad time?"

The skeleton sighed. "Just end it already.", he said and Chara's grin grew even wider.

"What, no last bad pun, comedian?", he asked and the skeleton chuckled.

"My puns may be bad to the bone, put at least I'm not stupid, unlike you.", he said an raised his left hand. Chara let out a bone-chilling scream as a bone impaled him from underneath. "He, get dunked on, dirty brother killer."

"You'll pay for that.", Chara snarled weakly, before the judgement hall faded before Gale's eyes. When it reappeared, Sans was already waiting for them, smiling cheerfully and waving at Chara. "I'll fucking kill you!", Chara roared, as he charged forward in a blur, Gale's body having gained in strength and speed, as it had every other time they had been killed before.

Startled by Chara's speed and viciousness, Sans couldn't react fast enough, as a punch sent him flying into a wall. Without giving the skeleton time to recover, Chara pushed his knee into Sans's gut, before pummeling him with brutal punches. The skeleton dropped to the floor and Chara picked him up by his jacket, raising his right fist. "I'd say it's been fun, comedian, but it really wasn't." He grinned again. "Time for you to meet your imbecile of a brother!", he laughed and Sans closed his eyes, waiting for the final blow.

The punch never came. The skeleton opened his eyes again. A man had appeared behind Chara and was holding his fist in place. Chara tried to free his hand, but while the man was seemingly only holding on lightly, his grip was still as strong as iron. "You have tortured this world long enough, demon. It's time you relinquish control again.", he said, making Chara snarl.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me.", he growled, before turning and around and trowing a punch. The man didn't even flinch, when the fist hit his jaw. He raised his free hand and held it in front of Chara's face. He said a few words in a language, Gale didn't understand. Chara screamed in agony, before everything went black for Gale. When his sight returned, he was looking down at his own body, as the man gently lowered it to the floor, before turning to Sans. He waved his hand and the skeleton's wounds healed.

"Thanks, wasn't expecting the brat to go off like that.", Sans said, before looking between the man and Gale's body. "What did you do to him?", he asked and the man looked at Gale as well.

"I sealed the demon within him. It's still there, only subdued. Gale will have to face him again one day." He looked at Sans. "And he will need your help for that." The skeleton raised his hands.

"Whoa there, wait just one moment. You can't drop all that on me, without even saying who you are." The man sighed.

"Very well, you may call me Yomi, Gale is my nephew."

"If he's your nephew, why can't you protect him?", Sans interrupted him. The man looked at him, furrowing his brows in annoyance. "Because I'm not allowed to. Gods aren't supposed to intervene in the affairs of mortals. I only did it now, because Chara's victory would have led to the destruction of the entire multiverse, you are a part of." He waved his hand in dismissal. "Besides, Gale isn't fully mortal, so not all rules apply to him. It is most important, that he survives. He will need your help." Sans looked at Gale's body and Yomi sighed. "What do you want in return? There are many things I can grant you."

Sans thought for a moment. "Gale will reset after he wakes up right?", he asked and Yomi nodded. "Then, what ever happens after the reset, I want my brother to be save."

"And if I protect Papyrus, you will do the same for Gale?", Yomi asked and Sans nodded. The god held out his hand and Sans took it. A bright light filled the hall. Sans let go and looked at his hand. A blue moon had appeared on the palm of his hand. "We have forged a contract. It can only be broken, if we both agree on it. Should either of us fail to uphold our end of the bargain, death would be merciful, compared to what would happen to us." He bowed before the skeleton. "You have my gratitude, Sans, faithful last protector of the underground."

With that he vanished, leaving Sans alone with Gale's body. The skeleton sighed. "What have I gotten myself into?", he mumbled, before he picked up Gale and vanished, just as everything went dark again.

The next time Gale could see again, he was lying in Papyrus old bed in Snowdin. Sans was sitting besides the bed, not looking at him. "Sans, I..."

The skeleton raised his hand and Gale stopped. "I know, what you're going to say, kid. It's not your fault. That... fiend was controlling you. I don't know how he took control of you, but it doesn't matter anyways. He killed my friends, not you."

He looked at Gale with a sad smile and Gale felt tears running down his face, before he threw himself at the skeleton. The skeleton patted the fourteen-years old boys back, as he cried. After a few moments, Gale pulled away.

"I'll make everything right, Sans, I promise."

"I know you will, kiddo. Give it some time, time doesn't matter after all." Gale looked down. "What's wrong, kiddo?"

"Sans, why don't you hate me?", he whispered and the skeleton sighed.

"At first, I did, if I'm honest. When I saw Paps turn to dust, I wanted to kill you, but now..." He shook his head. "I'd be lying, if I said, I'm not pissed of because of what happened, but you were not at fault. The demon did all this, not you." He smiled at Gale. "I have already forgiven you." Finally, Gale was able to return his smile. The skeleton's smile turned to shock, though, as a knife pierced his chest. He looked down at it, before looking at Gale with a somber smile.

"Now wasn't that sweet, I think, I'm gonna be sick.", Chara said, standing behind Sans. The skeleton slipped of the blade, but before his body could hit the floor, it had already turned to dust. Gale watched the dust trickle to the ground, before staring at Chara. "Oh, I like that look. Did I make you angry?", the demon laughed. With a yell, Gale jumped forward and drove his fist into Chara's gut. The demon stumbled backwards, but kept smiling. "Now that's more like it!", he grinned, as Gale swung his fist again.

Chara pushed the fist aside and his knife was a flash of steel, as he slashed twice at Gale. Gale felt the blade cut into his cheek. He jumped backwards, forgetting about the bed, and tumbled onto it again. Immediately, Chara was above and tried to push down into Gale's face. Gale and Chara were evenly matched, when it came to strength, but because of Chara's better position, the knife's tip kept inching closer. When it was not even an inch away from Gale's eye, a loud sound rang through the room. Chara looked up in confusion, not pushing for a moment. Gale immediately pushed the knife to the side and switched positions with Chara. Now above the demon, Gale began pounding his face punches, once, twice, he didn't know how often, as he had closed his eyes.

-Chosen Path-

When Gale opened his eyes again, he was looking down on his pillow, which he had been beating into submission. "Was it all a dream?", he whispered, but before the words had fully left his mouth, something fell onto his pillow.

He put a hand to his cheek, it was wet. He quickly got up and left his room, heading straight for the bathroom, while pressing one hand to his cheek. He turned on the lights and took a look at himself in the mirror. He was tall and muscular, his hair still as black and spiky, as it had been 4 years ago. He slowly pulled his hand away from his cheek. It was bleeding, the wound wasn't to bad, he had endured worse, but it was a bad sign nonetheless. "Alright, let's take care of this thing.", he sighed and produced a small flame in his hand.

After taking a deep breath, he pressed the flame onto the wound. He hissed, as the wound was cauterized. After a moment, he took his hand away and looked at his new scar. "He, I look even more like him now.", he chuckled, before going back to his room, turning of his alarm clock, which had startled Chara, and getting dressed.

The last thing, he put on, was an old, red headband, which he wore as a scarf. It was the only thing he had left from his father. He went downstairs and could already hear the TV from the living room. Inside, Sans was sitting in an armchair, watching an old black and white movie. He laughed, as the butler stumbled over the head of a tiger pelt. "How many rounds did he have to down already?", Gale asked.

He had watched the movie many times together with Sans and the rest of his family. "It's only the second one, the best is yet to come.", Sans replied and kept watching, as Gale stayed silent for a while.

"Sans? Can we talk about something?"

"Sure, Kiddo.", the skeleton said, as he paused the movie and turned to look at Gale. When he saw the boy's new scar, he jumped up from his chair. "Kid, what happened?!", he asked loudly and Gale sighed, before telling him about the dream, he had had.

They both stayed quite for a while, after he was finished. "So the demon finally decided to rear its ugly head again.", Sans whispered and shook his head.

"What will we do about him?", Gale asked.

The skeleton shrugged. "Honestly? I have no idea. I don't know squat about possessions, but we could ask Mettaton. As a ghost, he surely knows a thing or two about stuff like this." He looked at Gale again. "What will you tell Tori?" Gale looked confused at that, making Sans chuckle. "Do you really think, Tori won't notice the scar? You know how she is."

Gale sighed. "I guess, I'll tell her and the others the truth. Maybe they have an idea, how to deal with this."

Sans nodded at that. "You should get going now. You know how much Muffet hates waiting." He said with a grin and Gale chuckled, before leaving.

He rode his bike through the streets. Many things had changed, since the monsters had left the underground. At first, they had been met with some animosity from the humans, but after the monsters had settled in, things started to go smoothly. Many of the monsters had opened shops, like Muffet, who owned a bakery, or Grilby, who still ran a little pub. Every morning, Gale rode his bike to Muffet's bakery to get fresh bread and buns for breakfast. Of course, the spider girl had adjusted her prices and her bakery was doing quite well for itself, both monsters and humans buying from her. He parked his bike outside her store and entered. Muffet was sitting on the counter, a cup of coffee in one of her many hands, while also reading a newspaper. When Gale entered, she looked up and put the newspaper down. "Good morning, dearie. I've got everything ready, just give me a moment.", she said with a yawn, before setting down her cup and sliding of her counter.

She disappeared into the back of her store and returned after a few minutes with a paper bag. "Still going green, I see.", Gale said with a smile and she giggled.

"Of course, dearie. I love the forests on the surface, so I'll do my part, to keep them as beautiful as they are." She handed him the bag and he gave her the money. "Give my regards to Toriel, her butterscotch-cinnamon pies are doing quite well."

"Will do.", Gale replied, before leaving the bakery again. He rode his bike back home, thinking about what he would tell the others.

They were all living together, Toriel, Asgore, Sans, Papyrus, Undyne and Alphys. Only Mettaton had his own house, where he lived together with Napstablook. When Gale arrived, a purple car pulled up beside the house. Mettaton stepped out of his car and waved, when he saw Gale. Alphys had improved his EX-body, making him capable of staying in that form indefinitely.

"Good morning, darling. Sans said, you needed my help. What can I do for you?"

"Mornin', MTT, I'll explain inside, okay?", Gale replied and the robot nodded.

"Of course, darling." They entered the house.

"Mum, I'm back!", Gale called out, as he and Mettaton went the living room, where almost everybody was sitting at the table, only Toriel and Undyne were missing. Gale put the bag on the table, before hugging Asgore. "Morning, Dad.", he said.

"Sans already told us about the scar, mostly so Tori wouldn't freak out.", Asgore replied, before pulling back and taking a look at the scar. "Hm, doesn't look too bad. You cauterized it, right?", he asked and Gale nodded.

"Wowie, human, how did that happen? Why didn't you come to The Great Papyrus for help?", the tall skeleton asked and Gale chuckled at his antics.

"Relax, bro, Gale was just thinking a-head.", Sans said with a grin, making his brother cringe.

"Stop it, Sans, this is serious!", Papyrus chided the smaller skeleton.

Suddenly, Gale was grabbed from behind and found himself in a headlock. "There you are, punk! Took your time, huh? I'm starving!", Undyne yelled and Gale grinned, before grabbing her by the the hip and wrestling the fish girl to the ground.

They grappled for a few moments, before Gale turned Undyne on her belly and sat down her back. She struggled to push him of, but he didn't budge. She yelled in frustration, before tapping the floor and Gale got up from her back. "Dammit, punk, I thought I had you."

"Keep on trying, fish head.", Gale shot back and Sans snickered.

Undyne narrowed her eyes at Gale. "You're so gonna get it, after breakfast.", she growled, before sitting down next to Alphys and giving her girlfriend a kiss on the cheek. "Mornin', beautiful.", she whispered and Alphys blushed immediately.

"Oh, good morning, Mettaton, I didn't know, you were coming over.", Gale heard Toriel say and turned around to face her. When she saw his scar, she dropped the pot of coffee, she was carrying, and only Sans's quick thinking, saved it from crash into the floor. Toriel rushed over to Gale immediately and took a closer look at the scar. "Oh, my child, why didn't you say anything?", she asked and Gale couldn't look at her.

"Mum, we should sit down, there is a lot I have to tell you.", he said and, after hesitating for a moment, Toriel nodded and they sat down. Gale sat there, between his mum and dad, staring at his hands. "I guess, I'll begin at the start. Mum, when we first met, after I fell down, that wasn't actually the first time at all."

Toriel blinked perplexed. "What are you talking about, my child?", she asked and Gale sighed.

"I have this ability, I can save at a certain time and place and load that save later, to return to that place and time." He raised his hand and a black window appeared in front of him.

"Those are your stats, right?", Asgore asked intrigued and Gale nodded.

"I know what LV means, but what is SL?", Undyne asked. "It stands for Skill Level. It's similar to LV, but you gain SP, skill points, if you defeat opponents, without killing them. He probably earned a lot of them, after the battle he had with you, Undyne.", Asgore explained.

" 20 SL, huh? You're doing pretty well, punk.", Undyne grinned.

"Yes, anyways, this power can also be abused. Imagine an opponent, that, every time you defeat him, resets, comes back stronger and tries again. Before I met mum for the first time, a demon took control of my body. He... forced me to murder everyone of you. The only ones he couldn't get, were Alphys, because Mettaton sacrificed himself, to buy her time, and Sans, who put an end to his genocide."

Everyone had varying looks of shook on their faces, Toriel in particular, looked like she was about to vomit, pressing her hand against her mouth. "He forced you to...", she began and Gale nodded, before he felt her envelop him in a hug.

"And when ever the demon lost, he reset and fought again?", Asgore asked and this time Sans nodded.

"Yeah, most of you didn't put up a fight, the only ones who were able to slow him down, were Undyne and MTT. He had to lose 5 times against each of you, before he was strong enough to move on. When I had to face him, I knew, that I had no chance. I lost count of how often I fought them." He shook his head. "I remember every reset and I used that knowledge to rile the fiend up, so he would make mistakes, but eventually, he was too much for me as well and defeated me, before I could even attack. We're here, because Yomi, a god or something like that, stopped the demon, before it delivered the killing blow."

"And what became of the demon?", Asgore inquired.

Gale pulled himself out of Toriel's embrace and took a deep breath. "He's... still inside me. He attacked me tonight and gave me this scar." Everyone was quite and Mettaton nodded in understanding.

"Now I know, why Sans wanted me to come, but I don't know, if there is much I can tell you. We ghosts only ever posses lifeless objects, not other creatures. The only thing I could do, is enter Gale's soul and keep the demon at bay, but I don't know for how long."

Gale shook his head. "Not a chance, I won't allow you, to risk your life for me, Mettaton, there has to be another way."

Sans sighed. "There's someone else we could ask."

Toriel looked confused. "Sans, who are you talking about?"

The skeleton gave a sad smile. "The former royal scientist, Wing Ding Gaster, my father."

Papyrus looked at his brother, concern visible in his eyes. "But Sans, I thought..., you said dad died."

"Sorry, Paps. He isn't dead, merely lost in the void. I have to think of something to get him out of there, until then, there is only one thing we can do." He looked at Mettaton. "While Gale is asleep, you have to enter his soul and then, should the demon strike again, help him fight it of. It was pure luck that Gale survived their encounter tonight."

Everyone was silent again, until Gale spoke up. "And you think, your father will have the answer, we need?"

The skeleton nodded. "If not him, then there would only be Yomi, he sealed him inside you after all, but I have no idea, how to contact him." He smiled. "Don't worry, I will find a way to get him back to us. Until then, there is not much we can do."

Gale sighed and Asgore patted his shoulder. "Cheer up, my child you fought him of once, that's all that counts, even if it was by luck." He looked at everybody else. "Let us eat now, we need the strength, to help in any way we can."

Breakfast passed in unusual silence, no one, eating much, not even Gale, whose appetite was normally insatiable. That night, when Toriel tucked him in, Sans, Asgore and Mettaton were in the room as well. "Sleep well, my child.", she said, before looking at Mettaton, who was sitting in a chair. "You will keep him safe, right Mettaton?"

The robot nodded. "Don't worry, dear, he won't lay a finger on Gale."

Toriel sighed, then gave Gale a kiss on the forehead, before leaving the room. "I'll see you tomorrow, Gale, I'm still counting on your help in class.", the king said with a smile.

"Of course, dad, what kind of teaching assistant would I be, if I didn't?"

-Chosen Path-

"Good morning, children, and welcome to your first lesson in Magical Instruction, or MI, for short.", Asgore said, standing in front of the blackboard. "Today I'll give you a brief overview over the types of magic, there, before I will teach some E-Rank spells."

Gale was sitting in the first row, waiting for Asgore to call him up. His family had taught him most there was to know already, so Asgore had to be a little creative with grading him. He decided to make Gale his teaching assistant. Gale would have to help Asgore when displaying certain spells, help the other students, when they had assignments to do during the lesson on their own and, but much later into the year, take over occasionally.

"Now then, let us start.", Asgore said and the students got ready to write down, what ever Asgore said. "There are two primary ways to categorize a spell, either by its element or its most likely use. There are 6 elements. Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Light and Shadow.", he explained, drawing a hexagon on the board, each element a tip of it. "Of these elements, two are always contrary to each other. Fire and Water, Wind and Earth, Light and Shadow. Elemental spells can be mixed together, as long as the two elements aren't contrary to each other, the outcome would be catastrophic, if you tried to mix Fire and Water, for example." He made a short pause, so everyone could copy his diagram, before continuing. "Apart from that, a spell is either aggressive, meaning its primary use, is to attack your opponent, defensive, protecting yourself from harm, or passive, which can be anything, ranging from improving your own health and capabilities to distractions and illusions." He drew three overlapping circles. "Gale, can you tell me, why I made the circles overlap?", he asked and Gale smiled.

"Because that is, how the spells are. All spells can used in every way, especially passive spells. A fireball for example, can be used to attack, the straight forward approach, but you can also use it to intercept another spell or mend wounds, by cauterizing them.", he said and pointed at his cheek.

"Good answer. Please, come forward, Gale.", Asgore said and Gale did as his dad said. The king turned to his students. "Gale and I will be doing a mock duel know. Watch carefully and afterwards, you will tell me which spell was used in which way." He looked at Gale again. "Make sure to use all types, okay?"

Gale nodded and took his position, as Asgore formed a barrier between them and the other students. Gale raised his hands, a grin spreading over his face. A pale blue spear appeared in his hand and he reeled back his arm, before throwing it Asgore. The king summoned his trident and struck the incoming spear out of the air, before throwing a flame at Gale. Gale's smile grew wider. Green flames covered his arms and legs, before he punched Asgore's flame. This was the Jade Fire, a spell of his own creation. It increased his strength and speed, but drained his body if he went to far, the level he was using now though, could last for over an hour. He charged Asgore, swinging his fists at his dad. Asgore dodged his punches, before going for a stab with his trident. Not wanting to end up like an impaled boar, Gale raised one of his hands and the trident crashed into an invisible barrier. Asgore flinched backwards, but used the impulse, turned once around himself, his trident now turned into a scythe, and brought his weapon down on Gale. Gale aimed his hands at the ground and unleashed a gust of wind, pushing himself away from the blow. Asgore smiled at him, before lowering his weapon.

"That should be enough.", he said, his scythe disappearing, before he turned to the class. "Well then, children, let's begin, shall we? First, Gale's spear, who can tell me something about it?", he asked and many of the students raised their hands, monsters and humans both present in the class. Asgore pointed at a human girl.

"It was offensive, though I'm not sure about the element. Light, maybe?", she said and Asgore nodded.

"Well done, Amy, though there is a slight error, but it's something, you couldn't know about yet. While Gale did use the spell in an offensive manner, all summoning spells are passive. You were right on the element though.", he said with a smile. The lesson continued, Gale helping out, wherever Asgore wanted him to. When the bell rang and the other students had left, Gale stayed behind with Asgore.

"You did very well, Gale, your spells were precise and powerful. I'm proud of you, Gale.", Asgore said with a smile and patted the boys shoulder. "Now then, on to a more serious matter. Did the demon try to attack you again?", Asgore asked and Gale looked towards the windows.

"No, not really. He appeared again, but didn't attack. Apparently, our bout the night before left him to exhausted.", he said and Asgore nodded.

"So he gets tired as well? That's good to hear, but one more thing. You always say 'the demon', doesn't he have a name?" Gale gulped at Asgore's question, he didn't want to tell him. How should he explain, that the first human, they had adopted, was out to kill them now?

"I-well, yes he has, but...I don't know if you really want to hear it. It might bring back some memories, you don't want to relive."

Asgore sighed. "He's a fallen child, isn't he?" "Yes, but not in the way you think." He took a deep, breath. "He was the first ever to fall down.", Gale said and turned to look back at his dad. Asgore's face was filled with pure horror.

"Chara? He is tormenting you? But... he wouldn't do something like this. He was such a sweet child." Tears were running down his face and Gale embraced him in a hug.

"He was playing everything, he told me as much. He wanted the destruction of humankind, so he jumped down Mt. Ebbot, hoping that a monster would find his dying body and take his soul, then pass through the barrier to get enough souls to brake it. Though, he would never have expected Asriel to be the one to find him. He formed a new plan after that. He got all of you to love him, before taking poison and causing his own death. Asriel, goodhearted, as you told me he was, took his brothers soul and his body to the surface, where he was attacked by humans. And again, Chara's plan failed, when he didn't fight back. I'm sorry, dad.", he whispered at the end.

They were both silent for a moment, before Asgore pulled away and took a deep breath. "This is a lot at once, Gale. Are you sure. it's Chara?", Asgore quietly asked and Gale nodded.

"He showed me his memory, of when he first met Asriel." Gale stopped and looked to the windows again, before turning back to Asgore. "Dad? Let's not tell mum about this for now, okay? She'd be devastated.", Gale said and Asgore nodded.

"Alright, Gale, I'll keep quite for now, but once we've resolved everything, we'll tell her, okay?", Asgore asked and Gale nodded. The king sighed, before a weak smile returned to his face. "Run along now, I've got somethings to do and you don't want to keep your band waiting, right?" Gale nodded and took his back, before leaving the classroom and making his way towards the room, the school band used for practice.

-Chosen Path-

"Alright, darlings, one more time and then we'll call it a day, okay?", Mettaton said and Gale, along with the rest of the band, nodded.

With Gale, there were 4 people in the band, three humans and one monster. Gale was the lead singer and played the guitar. Second, there was Sal, a 15-year old boy, who played the bass. Then there was Amy, she did the female vocals whenever they performed and also played the keyboard. She and Sal were together, but despite him being older, he couldn't hold a candle to her and she always got what she wanted. Last, but not least, there was Clair, a spider girl and the niece of Muffet. She played the drums and was also in charge when it came to the rest of their equipment. She was always the one, who set up the speakers, no one else was allowed to do. Gale was occasionally given permission to help her, but she always had the last say. The four of them had been playing together for a year now and, with the help of Mettaton, who was coaching them, they had finally gotten their first gig. They were supposed to play at one of his shows, after he introduced them ,on the condition, that they prepared three songs and practiced them, until he was satisfied with their performance. So far, one song had met his approval and had started rehearsing their second one. Gale gave the others a signal and they started playing again.

_High Hopes by Panic! At the Disco_

_Had to have high, high hopes for living_

_Shooting for the stars when I couldn't make a killing_

_Didn't have a dime but I always had a vision_

_Always had high, high hopes_

_Had to have high, high hopes for living_

_Didn't know how but I always had a feeling_

_I was gonna be that one in a million_

_Always had high, high hopes_

_Mama said_

_Fulfill the prophecy_

_Be something greater_

_Go make a legacy_

_Manifest destiny_

_Back in the days_

_We wanted everything, wanted everything_

_Mama said_

_Burn your biographies_

_Rewrite your history_

_Light up your wildest dreams_

_Museum victories, everyday_

_We wanted everything, wanted everything_

_Mama said don't give up, it's a little complicated_

_All tied up, no more love and I'd hate to see you waiting_

_Had to have high, high hopes for living_

_Shooting for the stars when I couldn't make a killing_

_Didn't have a dime but I always had a vision_

_Always had high, high hopes_

_Had to have high, high hopes for living_

_Didn't know how but I always had a feeling_

_I was gonna be that one in a million_

_Always had high, high hopes_

_Mama said_

_It's uphill for oddities_

_The stranger crusaders_

_Ain't ever wannabes_

_The weird and the novelties_

_Don't ever change_

_We wanted everything, wanted everything_

_Stay up on that rise_

_Stay up on that rise and never come down_

_Stay up on that rise_

_Stay up on that rise and never come down_

_Mama said don't give up, it's a little complicated_

_All tied up, no more love and I'd hate to see you waiting_

_They say it's all been done but they haven't seen the best of me_

_So I got one more round and it's gonna be a sight to see_

_Had to have high, high hopes for living_

_Shooting for the stars when I couldn't make a killing_

_Didn't have a dime but I always had a vision_

_Always had high, high hopes_

_Had to have high, high hopes for living_

_Didn't know how but I always had a feeling_

_I was gonna be that one in a million_

_Always had high, high hopes_

_Had to have high, high hopes for living_

_Shooting for the stars when I couldn't make a killing_

_Didn't have a dime but I always had a vision_

_Always had high, high hopes_

_Had to have high, high hopes for living_

_Didn't know how but I always had a feeling_

_I was gonna be that one in a million_

_Always had high, high hopes_

Mettaton was clapping when they finished. "Well done, darlings. There were just some minor things, but nothing you can't take care of. Sal, your rhythm was a bit off, play a bit slower during the verse, but your speed during the chorus was perfect." He turned to Clair. "It's the same for you, only reversed. Speed up a little during the chorus." Then it was Amy's turn. "You need to sing a little louder, Amy. You have a strong voice, use it, darling." Now, Gale was the only one left. Mettaton looked at him for a moment, then he shook his head, chuckling. "I've got nothing to say, Gale. Once again, you have shown yourself to be a master of music. I wonder, maybe you are a protege when it comes to the arts.", the robot said with a smile, causing Gale to rub his neck sheepishly. "That's it for today, darlings. Let's pack up, then I'll get you home.", Mettaton said and everyone nodded.

Gale and Sal got to work on the speakers, after Clair had taken care of the cables, the two of them always doing the heavy lifting for her, while Mettaton helped the girls with the instruments. Sal glanced at Gale's cheek. "So, what's up with with the scar, G-man?", he asked and Gale shrugged.

"Another bout with Undyne. Didn't want the wound to bother me during our fight, so I cauterized it.", he lied, rubbing over the scar. "Burned like hell, though.", he grinned, as they lifted a heavy speaker together.

With all of them working together, they finished quickly and then made their way outside. "So, Gale, how come you know so much about magic? The way our lesson went with Mr Dreemur, it seems like everything happening between the two of you was planned.", Amy said and Clair nodded.

"Yeah, what was up with that?", she asked and Gale chuckled.

"We didn't plan it out or anything, but mum and dad made sure, that I know almost everything there is to know about the theory behind magic, so everything were learning, would be to easy and actually boring for me, so dad and I had an idea. I have to help during the lessons with presentations and stuff like, and in turn, I don't have to participate in tests. As for exams, I have to hold a presentation for all of you, to help you learn and understand it." He shrugged. "It's better this way, I'm not bored out of my mind and you can profit from my knowledge."

Sal laughed. "And you don't mind, having to babysit the entire class, when King Asgore wants you to?", he asked and Gale shook his head.

They had reached Mettaton's car and got in. "Okay, darlings, buckle up.", Mettaton said and started driving.

Usually, Gale would be the one to be dropped off first, though with Mettaton staying the night again, he would be last to day. "Hey, this isn't the way to Gale's home.", Sal mentioned and Mettaton looked at him through the mirror.

"No, I have something to discuss with Alphys, so I'll have to go there later anyways, might as well save it for last, right, darling?", the robot chuckled, before pulling up besides Muffet's bakery. He turned around to Clair. "Here we are, dear. Give my regards to your aunt.", he said with a smile and the spider girl nodded.

She hugged Amy, who was sitting between her and Sal, before high-fiving Gale and Sal. After Clair had stepped out of the car and had gotten her bag from the trunk, Mettaton drove of again. He dropped of Amy and Sal together, the two living next to each other. Gale and the robot drove in silence for a few minutes after that, Mettaton occasionally glancing towards the teenager. "So, how is the song you're writing coming along?", he asked Gale and the boy managed a small smile. He took out a small note book from his jacket and opened it.

"Better now, actually. The demon actually was useful for one thing. Gave me an idea for a line.", he said and tapped on the aforementioned line. Mettaton glanced at the book, when they stopped at an intersection.

"'My spirit grows and I will face this demon.'", the robot read aloud, before nodding. "Sounds good, and I can certainly see how you came up with it. I'm sure you will overcome him, like in the song." Gale sighed. "I hope, that Sans got good news for us. Do you know anything about the void?", he asked.

"Not much, I'm afraid, darling. The void is, as far as I know, the space between worlds. Nothing exists there, there's no air, no live, and no way out by yourself, once you're stuck there. If Dr Gaster wasn't a skeleton, he'd surely be dead." He sighed and shook his head. "But I'm more afraid of his mental condition. Being alone in the darkness for so long, it would be a miracle, if wasn't he affected in one way or another. I wonder how he got trapped there in the first place. Alphys told me, that the former royal scientist fell into the core, but how that could lead him to be stuck in the void, is beyond me."

Gale looked at the sky, deep in thought. "Maybe he can teleport, like Sans, and when he fell, he teleported without thinking and got stuck in the void.", he finally said and Mettaton nodded along.

"That seems like a likely explanation, but we should wait and hear, what Sans has to say about this.", he proposed, as they pulled up besides Gale's home.

Inside, Toriel was sitting in her armchair, a book in her hands, while Sans was snoring away on the couch. She looked up, when Gale and Mettaton entered. "Hello, my child, how was band practice?" Mettaton smiled at her question.

"Only one song left for the darlings. Gale's performance in particular was magnificent, as always.", the robot praised the, who sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"Come on, MTT, I'm not that good.", he said humbly, but Mettaton waved it of. "Nonsense, darling, I know talent, when I see it. Just remember your first performance, during my show, when first showed this spectacular form. The ratings went through the roof, because of you. Don't sell yourself short, darling.", he shot Gale's complaint down, while patting the boy's shoulder, before turning to Toriel. "Tori, dear, do you know where Alphys is?"

"She is outside. Sans told us his idea already and Alphys is doing some calculations, to see if it is feasible.", she replied.

"What did he come up with?", Gale asked and Toriel began explaining.

Sans would open a portal to the void and venture through, while the others had to keep it open with their magic.

"We decided to split up into three teams. Asgore, you and I will each lead one of them, since we are the most powerful, when it comes to magic, out of all of us. You will team up with Undyne and Papyrus, Asgore will have Grilby and Muffet to help him out. As for my team, Undyne's mother, Amphitrite, has promised to help me, as well as Flowey, for some reason. He wouldn't say why."

"I'll ask him, gotta take care of some homework as well.", Gale replied, before going upstairs to his room.

Flowey was in his pot and used his vines to zap through the channels on Gale's TV. "There you are. So, trying to bring back smiley trashbag's father, eh?", the flower asked, as Gale sat down at his desk.

"Why are you helping us?", Gale cut through Flowey's words.

"It's so boring, here on the surface, but with you having to fight Chara, it might get mildly entertaining.", the flower said with a grin.

Gale sighed. After his battle with Asriel, the self-proclaimed god had set the human souls free again and, after talking with Gale for a short time, he had transformed back into Flowey. Flowey had retained his memories, but the compassion the souls had given him, was gone. "You know, Flowey, maybe Dr Gaster can fix your condition. Your soul is not gone, simply broken apart and inactive, right?"

"That has nothing to do with it!", the flower yelled, before throwing the remote at Gale, who easily caught it and set it down on his desk, before starting with math.

**AN: So we start of Gale's journey in Undertale. Not much to say here, except for you to guess, what song Gale is writing.**

**Good luck figuring it out, Zardas out!**


	3. Chapter 3

_Chosen Path-_

_Chapter 2_

Gale looked at Chara and the demon met his gaze. Green eyes stared into searing red ones, and yet, a smile crept onto Gale's face, while Chara snarled. "You're disgustingly chipper today. The hell's wrong with you?", the demon growled and Gale chuckled.

"Just thinking about you soon being gone for good. You see, tomorrow we'll save Sans' dad, Gaster, the former royal scientist. I'm sure he'll come up with a plan to get rid of you.", he replied.

The demon cocked an eyebrow at him, then a grin split his face. "Do you really think it will be that easy? Even if he comes up with a plan, I'll have more then enough time to break you. Besides, I have a surprise for you.", he spoke and waved his hand.

Next to him, a figure appeared. It was covered in darkness, though Gale could still make out a human-like shape. The only thing he could see were the creature's eyes. They were a bright yellow, completely fixated on him. Mettaton, who had remained silent until now, looked shocked. "Dear me, what an abomination. Be careful, darling, I can feel it's power, you and it are equal.", he cautioned Gale, making Chara chuckle.

"Of course they're equal, trash can, this is Gale's dark, primal side after all. While you were thinking of ways to get rid of me. I dug around a little and found him. We had a little chat, I told him what I wanted and he did the same. I promised him what he wanted an he agreed to help me, simple as that. Together, we will rule this world.", he laughed.

"Rule the world? What happened to erasing everything?" Gale was more then a bit confused at this point.

Chara snarled at his question. "Whether I like it or not, I can't refute the fact, that my time trapped inside your body has changed me. Now I see how stupid it would be to erase this world, getting there would be fun indeed, but once the deed is done, what am I supposed to do? It would be boring as fuck! So, ruling the should be a lot more fun. For one, it will take a lot longer, and second, even when I'm ruling, there will always be someone stupid enough to rise against me, however futile it might be." He grinned manically and raised his arms to both sides. "And I'll start right here. Let's see how you fare against your own darkness!", he laughed and the creature charged Gale.

Gale threw a simple fireball, but the thing simply swiped it aside with its massive arm, though still growled when the fire seared its flesh. It threw a punch and Gale jumped backwards to avoid it. Its fist shattered the ground Gale had been standing on, its eyes already back on its prey. Gale didn't have time to counter-attack though, as he felt something above him. He glanced upwards, only to see Chara, a bright red knife in one hand, ready to bring it down on Gale's head, when a kick from Mettaton sent him flying backwards. "Focus on the abomination, I'll take the demon.", the robot called out, already in pursuit of his foe.

Gale nodded, before a gust of wind raised him into the air, high above the creature. When he was several feet up in the air, he reversed his magic, the wind sending him towards his enemy. He brought his heel down, trying to deliver a devastating axe kick, but the creature caught his foot and swung him around. Gale cried out in pain as his body hit the floor, but the creature wasn't done yet, and began thrashing him against the ground repeatedly. When it let go, it sent Gale flying. Gale barely managed to catch himself with another gust of wind, but the damage was done. His body looked awful, many cuts and bruises covering it, but he wasn't about to give up. "I will face this demon.", he whispered, as green flames covered his arms and legs.

He charged the creature again, though now it seemed clearer to him what it looked like. The creature was tall, a lot taller then him, taller even then Asgore. Its arms and legs were massive like tree trunks, its shoulders broad and its hair a black like Gale's. The creature's face was still blurry, but Gale could still make out a smile spreading across its face. It roared out in challenge, before running at Gale as well, its step heavy on the floor. They clashed against each other, either side trying to push the other back. No one was giving in, both equal in strength. After a while, the creature started laughing. "YOU'RE STRONG, TINY!", its voice in echoed Gale's ears. "I LOVE STRONG ENEMYS! I LOVE HOW IT MAKES MY BLOOD BOIL! I LOVE TO BREAK THEM INTO PIECES!", it roared out, suddenly starting to push Gale back, its elation seemingly giving it more power.

Or maybe it was Gale's shock, as he realized, that it truly was similar to him. He to loved strong opponents, loved to be pushed to the edge and beyond it, but only in fair fights and while he liked winning, just like everyone else would, that wasn't his reason for fighting. Fighting was about the competition itself, brave men and women giving it their all. The creature kept pushing, but suddenly, it couldn't go further. Gale's gaze was cast downwards as he spoke. "I also love strong opponents, I love the adrenaline in my vines, I love to push myself and my opponent beyond everything, we thought possible." He looked up, right into the creature face, his own face. "But I don't break them, a victory is enough."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mettaton and Chara in a stalemate as well. The robot had transformed one of his arms into a blade and was pushing against Chara's knife. The demon was gritting his teeth, while Mettaton smiled. When Gale had voiced concerns about Mettaton fighting Chara, the robot had simply laughed. "My physical body might not be a match for him, but my soul is strong, strong enough to give him a run for his money. You don't have worry about me, although I appreciate your concern, darling.", he had said, smiling as always.

Gale turned to looked back at his other half. "I won't give in while my friend is giving it his all, I'm better then that." He smiled. "I'll show you how strong I am!", he roared, before suddenly relenting and moving to the side, making the giant Gale stumble forward, right into a knee strike. The dark side of Gale spat blood and howled in pain, as a green aura surrounded him.

He turned to face Gale, who had jumped backwards to put some distance between them, momentarily turning off the Jade Fire. A green ball of energy gathered in the other Gale's hand, that Gale could feel, although it wasn't magic. Ira, as Gale now decided to call him, raised the hand with the energy ball, pointing it at him. "I WILL ERASE YOU, TINY!", Ira roared and the ball turned into a beam, heading straight for Gale.

Gale dodged it, but looked in shock at his foe, even Mettaton and Chara had stopped their fight, as Ira kept roaring, the green energy occasionally exploding around him. Mettaton glanced at Chara, the demon having a huge grin on his face, that disappeared, when his body crumbled to the floor. The robot had knocked him out with a swift strike to the neck. "We need to stop him now! His power keeps increasing and soon we won't be able to keep up."

"What do you suggest?"

"I use my NEO form, you crank up your Jade Fire as high as possible.", Mettaton's reply came in an instance, now completely serious.

Gale sighed, but nodded. Whispering, "This is going to hurt.", he turned the Jade Fire one again, the flames now covering his entire body. Mettaton had transformed as well, one of his arms now a blaster. He aimed the blaster at Ira, charging it to its maximum, while Gale prepared a spell, another one of his own creation. He had never intended to use Righteous Fury, a devastating spell, that channeled all of his energy into a golden beam of light. The first time he had used it, it had almost blown the top off of Mt Ebbot and had put him out of commission for an entire week. Toriel had been furious and he had been grounded for the rest of the month. Now, he would use it again.

As he was about to unleash the spell, his arms stretched out towards Ira, an image popped into his head, he saw a warrior, clad in a strange armor, his hair as black as Gale's and a similar scar on his cheek. Lightnings were striking the ground around him, as his hair changed from black to gold and back again, before settling on gold as he let out a roar, the ground breaking around him. The image changed and now Gale saw the man looking up towards a small devil-like creature. A blue orb was hovering above the golden-haired warrior's hand, only for a moment, before he pushed it towards the small devil, the orb turning into a blue beam and clashing against a purple sphere, made by the small devil. There was one other thing, Gale noticed. The man was wearing a headband, a red headband, that looked like the one he was wearing around his neck.

Gale didn't know why, but this scene resonated with him. One of his arms dropped to the side, the golden orb that had been growing between his hands turned blue. The Jade Fire had disappeared as well, replaced by a white aura. As Mettaton let a blast from his arm cannon loose, Gale fired the blue beam towards Ira. Gale's and Mettaton's beams merged, taking on a green color, as they headed straight for Ira. For a moment, Ira's aura seemed capable of keeping them at bay, then it crumbled and the beams exploded around Ira. Dust filled the air around them, making Gale cough.

As the dust began to settle, Ira became visible again. He was lying on the floor, not moving. Gale slowly approached him, still cautious of the vicious Ira. Gale stood beside the tall being, looking down at him. Slowly, Ira opened his eyes and coughed up blood, but then smiled. "That really hurt, tiny.", he said, his voice a lot quieter then before. "It was fun. Let's do it again, later.", Ira said, slowly getting up, his legs shaking. He put one of his humongous hands on Gale's shoulder. "Next time, I'll win.", he said, his smile getting wider, before he disappeared.

-Chosen Path_-_

"So, everybody ready?", Sans asked and everyone present nodded. Gale's gaze wandered over the monsters here.

There were those, he considered family, of course. Papyrus was standing next to Sans, concern in his eyes, Asgore and Toriel, towering over the other monsters, were both smiling at Gale, Alphys looked as nervous as always and Undyne was right beside her, a can of soda in her hand. On Alphys other side was Amphitrite, Undyne's mom. She looked similar to Undyne, though wore her equally red hair open. Undyne had told him, that her mom had been part of the royal guard as well, but had retired once Undyne had become strong enough to defeat her. Grilby and Muffet were talking quietly to each and Gale sometimes caught the spider girl looking away, blushing. As for Flowey, the potted plant was as far away from everybody else as possible. He wouldn't say why he really wanted to help, but Gale was pretty sure it was because of his soul. "Okay, guys, I'll open the portal now. Who's going to keep it open first?", Sans asked and Gale stepped forward.

"We'll keep it open, Sans. Are you ready for the journey?", Gale replied and the skeleton chuckled.

"Nope, but ya can't really prepare for a place like the void. I'm just glad it's de-void of life, 'cept for my pops, of course.", the skeleton grinned, causing his brother to groan in frustration.

"Sans, this really isn't the time for puns!", he said, but Sans kept smiling. His left eye started glowing and a swirling vortex appeared in front of him.  
He looked over his shoulder at Gale, who was flanked by Undyne and Papyrus. "Welp, here goes nothing.", he said and stepped through the portal, the darkness beyond it swallowing him.

Gale raised his hand and immediately he felt his energy beginning to slowly drain. Undyne and Papyrus each put a hand on one of his shoulders, channeling their magic into him, making the task less strenuous. Toriel watched them for a moment. "I'll prepare something for you to eat after switching.", she said, then left the garden and went inside.

Gale sighed, as he stared at the vortex. "I hope it won't take him too long.", he whispered.

-Chosen Path-

Sans looked around, everything was black, as he had expected. The void was empty, as far as he knew. There certainly wasn't any life in here, which didn't make things easier. Finding his father wouldn't be easy. Normally, he would just try to sense his father's magic, but the void was filled with its own brand of magic, so much of it in fact, that he couldn't try sensing anything without getting a very nasty headache. He would have to look for his dad the old fashioned way. He sighed and started walking.

He thought back to before his father had fallen into the core. He had always been obsessed with work, often leaving Sans alone at home with the younger Papyrus. When Papyrus was old enough to stay at home alone, Sans joined him in the lab and helped him with his work. He had been the one to discover the void, his father had been so proud of him. They had run several tests regarding it, the photon levels were negative, yet one could still see. Together they had developed a spell to open portals into the void, which they had then used to teleport around. Sans suddenly stopped. Everything looked the same, he couldn't tell if he was even walking in a straight line.

"This isn't working.", he grumbled, turning to go back the way he came, when he felt something holding his wrist.

"Where do you think you're going? Giving up so soon? That's not what I taught you.", he heard a voice, not from behind him, but seemingly everywhere.

Sans took a look at his wrist, a black tentacle-like appendage was holding onto him. "Who are you?", he asked, staring at his wrist.

"You don't recognize me? You're breaking my heart, Sans.", the voice replied and out of the ground, a figure rose up, a black cloak, that seemed to have melted, covering its body and his head a skull with two large cracks in it.

"Oh god!", Sans whispered, as he stared at his father's deformed body. "What happened to you?", he asked and his father chuckled.

"What, does my appearance scare you? Disgust you? I did what I had to to survive. You know how we skeletons are, we can survive for a long time without absorbing any magic. So, at first, I wasn't in any immediate danger, but as time passed, I grew weaker and weaker, while I had to watch everything, first what the flower, Asriel Dreemur's husk, did. It almost drove me insane, having to watch him kill everyone again and again, I desperately searched for a way out, but there was none. And still, my magic became weaker and weaker, and so, with my time running out, I decided to absorb the voids magic." He raised his arms. "It turned me into what you see before you."

Sans gulped, but tried to remain calm. "I'm here to get you out of here. We need your help, with..."

"Ah, yes, now you need me. I know what your problem is and how to solve it, but what makes you think, I would want to help you? Or that I would want to leave?", Gaster interrupted his son. "But, dad, do you really want to stay here? Think of Papyrus, he wants to see you again."

"So? I like it here. The void has made me powerful, I will never leave." He chuckled again. "You can try to take me by force, but what good would that do you?"

Sans growled. "The void has driven you mad. I will save you, even if it means having to beat some sense into you first!" His eye started glowing again and a bone shot up, severing the tentacle that was holding him. More bones followed, handing straight for Gaster, who simply smiled. Two new tentacles separated themselves from the darkness, grabbing Gaster around the waist and pulling him up, away from the bones.

"Yes, try to defeat me. I has been such a long time since I had fun. I always had to watch." He raised one hand and two of his gaster blasters, looking just as messed up as he did, appeared, shooting black beams towards Sans. Sans summoned his own blasters, their beams clashing in the air. The resulting explosion blinded Sans for a moment. He felt a tug around his waist, another tentacle had grabbed him and flung him away like a rag doll.

-Chosen Path-

"He's taking his time.", Grilby said in his slow voice, as they watched Toriel, Amphitrite and Flowey keeping the portal open. Gale checked the time on his laptop, five hours had past and still no sign of Sans.

The skeleton had told them that this could happen, time flowed differently in the void, an hour out here, might only be a few minutes in there. "Don't worry, Grilby, you know how strong Sans is and besides, what could possibly happen? You heard what he said, there is no life in the void, except for Sans and Gaster. He's probably still searching for him.", Gale said, then went back to his research.

The energy that had flown through him during his battle with Ira, who had used it as well, was so intriguing. It was no magic, yet still came from within him. There was only one thing it could be, Ki, pure life-energy. Everybody had it, it coursed through all living beings. Few could consciously use it, like Gale and Ira had done in his mind, but just the thought of being able to do some of the things, ki-users were supposedly able to do, was exiting. There was just one problem, Gale had no idea were to begin. The only thing it said, was that he should meditate, but nothing beyond that.

He sighed and turned of his laptop. "A problem for another day.", he said and wondered how much longer Sans would need.

-Chosen Path-

"What's wrong, son, am I too strong?", Gaster laughed, as Sans got back up, coughing.

"Why, dad, why are you trying to kill me?", he asked and the laughing stopped.

A strange expression passed over Gaster's face. "I-I don't want to kill you Sans.", he said, his voice filled with sadness, before the smile returned. "Sadly it isn't my choice to make, the void wants you dead." Sans gasped. "You're not my father.", he spat, new vigor in his voice. "Where is he?!", he yelled and Gaster chuckled.

"Oh, but I'm right here, Sans. Your father is right here, just not like you remember him. We are more now, more then Wing Ding Gaster could have ever been." Multiple tentacles came from the darkness, wrapping around Sans' limbs and lifting him into the air. "You will join us, become one with us." Another tentacle formed before Gaster and, as he kept smiling, it shot forward.

Sans closed his eyes and braced for the impact. "Sorry, pops, I am at my end, no more plans, no more witty puns, nothing.", he whispered and opened his eyes again.

The tentacle had stopped mere inches away, a faint blue glow around it. He looked at Gaster, one of his eyes, the left one, was glowing in a bright blue. A single tear trickled down his cheek from it, but he scowled. "What is this?! Why is this happening?!", he bellowed and more tendrils broke out of the darkness, heading straight for Sans.

A deformed gaster blaster appeared in front of the skeleton, destroying the tendrils, before they could reach Sans. The floating skull turned around, aimed at the tentacles holding Sans and destroying them as well. Sans dropped to the ground, staring at the skull. A sudden screech made him look at Gaster again. The taller skeleton was holding his head, face twisted by agony. "Stop this! You can't defy me, you are mine!", he screeched, as a black liquid started pouring out of the cracks in his skull.

"No, I won't let you kill Sans! Get out of my head!", he now screamed, though his voice sounded different, more alive." He looked at Sans, who simply watched. "Help me, Sans, I can't shake it of alone.", he said and the light in Sans left eye was ignited and turned into a blazing flame.

With his powers, he took a hold of the liquid and started pulling. Gaster let out another agony filled screech. More and more of the liquid started pouring out, trickling to the floor, until nothing came out any more. The sludge on the floor wiggled and writhed, raising itself of the ground and taking the shape of a giant maw. Gaster, now no longer deformed ran over to Sans, trying to put as much distance between the maw and himself. The maw came after him, more tendrils sprouting from inside it, trying to get a hold of Gaster, only to be blasted apart by Sans. "You'll pay for what you did to my father!", Sans growled and a dozen gaster blaster appeared between Gaster and the maw, all blasting it, the sludge being blown apart, as the creature screeched again. The remains of the sludge sizzled on the ground.

"This isn't over, I'll get both of you!", a voice said, a distorted sound to it. Gaster collapsed into Sans' arms, as father and son embraced each other. "It's alright, dad, it's over.", Sans said, panting from using so much magic, and his father let go to look at him.

"Do you have a way out of here, Sans?"

"Of course, pops, Paps and the others are keeping a portal open." He turned into the direction of the portal, even though it was to far away to see. "Can you walk?", Sans asked looking at his father.

The older skeleton smiled weakly. "I'll manage. My attacks drained almost all the magic I had left."

"I can take care of that.", Sans replied, his eye glowing again, as a larger gaster blaster appeared besides them. He levitated Gaster onto it, before hopping on himself. "Let's get out of here, before that creature tries to stop us again.", he said and they flew off on the skull. After a short while they reached the portal, but what they saw, was simply horrifying.

-Chosen Path-

"Man, how much longer is he going to take?", Undyne groaned.

The sun was starting to set, yet Sans was still nowhere to be seen. Gale sighed, still watching the portal. Asgore and his team were keeping it open at the moment and the next switch was only half an hour away, then it would be his turn again. Gale looked at Papyrus, whose face was filled worry and fear. Gale padded the skeleton's shoulder. "Don't worry, Papyrus, I'm sure Sans is fine.", he tried to calm him down and Papyrus gave him a weak smile.

"I know human, but I have this weird feeling, like something terrible is going to happen. I can't explain it.", the skeleton said, shaking his head.

"What the fuck is that?!", Undyne suddenly yelled and Gale and Papyrus turned their attention back to the portal.

A black, writhing mass was coming through the portal, slowly taking the shape of a giant maw. "Ah, this is the world Gaster wanted to return to. All this life, so many things for us to devour.", it said, the voice strangely distorted.

Immediately, alarms were going of in Gale's head. "Dad, focus on keeping the portal open, we'll keep that thing at bay.", he called out and the king nodded.

A grim smile twisted Undyne's face, as a pale blue spear appeared in her hand. "Let's tear that thing apart!", she yelled and charged a it.

Her mother sighed. "You haven't changed, always rushing in headfirst. Will I have to clean up after you again?", she said, drawing a great sword out of thin air, before joining her daughter.

The creature screeched as mother and daughter severed many of its tendrils, but it seemed more annoyed then anything and swiped them away. Gale focused his own magic and unleashed a torrent of flames, the creature twitching, as it's flesh was seared. "It burns, it burns! Too bright!", it roared and turned towards Gale.

"Use fire or other bright things!", he yelled and activated the Jade Fire, charging towards it. His fist teared through the black mass, until a tendril wrapped itself around his upper arm, crushing it. He screamed in pain, as the creature raised him towards its maw.

"You will be tasty, bright one. You shine brighter then all of them.", it said, maw opening wide to swallow Gale whole.

Gale raised his free hand and a white orb appeared in the palm, a simple light spell, that could sear flesh, if concentrated enough. He shot it at the creature, who howled in agony, but only tightened its grip around Gale's arm. The pain became unbearable, until the creature let go and dropped Gale into its maw. Terror gripped Gale and, in his panic, he forgot to use his magic. He felt something coil around his belly and jerk him backwards. He tumbled to the ground, landing next to Flowey, whose vine let go of him.

"What's wrong with you? Don't make me save you again, idiot.", the flower spat, before he started whipping his vines against the creature.

Everyone was using what they had to stop it, but nothing they did, even made it howl out in pain again. "You can't stop us. We are the void!", it bellowed and started laughing. It turned towards Papyrus. "We know you, know your father, know your brother. Soon you will know us to.", it laughed again, as tears started running down the skeleton's face.

"What did you do to them? What did you do to them!?", he screamed, his usually kind eyes, now a burning red. Two gaster blasters appeared beside him, making everyone stare at him in shock.

"Papyrus, what's wrong?", Undyne asked, concerned for her best friend.

Papyrus didn't answer, he yelled at the writhing mass and both skulls beside him fired at it. When the beams hit, the sound of sizzling flesh filled the air, alongside the pained howl of the creature. It tried to retreat back into the portal, but something pushed it back out, another bright beam.

"NO! It can't end like this.", the creature from the void roared on last time, before it started losing its shape, returning to some sizzling black sludge.

Everyone stared at the portal. Out came Sans and another skeleton, both sitting on a huge gaster blaster, the smaller skeleton grinning. "Sorry, guys, couldn't a-void running into this thing.", he said and Papyrus, not caring for the pun, sprinted towards his brother.

"You're safe, you're both safe.", he whispered as he embraced both of them, now crying tears of joy.

-Chosen Path-

"I'm glad to see you're feeling better, doctor.", Asgore said, as everyone sat down for breakfast.

They had decided to let Gaster get a good night's rest, before they would unload everything on him. "Thank you, your majesty. It felt good to finely sleep again. That thing wouldn't allow me the recuperation. Probably because it could have given me a chance to break free.", Gaster replied, taking a sip of coffee.

Toriel had used her magic to repair his cloak and mended any injuries he had had, but the cracks in his skull remained. He turned to look at Gale, a smile on his face. "And I have to say, I'm happy to finally met you, Gale. While it kept me trapped, it allowed me to watch everything that went on in this world. What you did for my family and all monsters was truly selfless. And of course I know of your troubles with the demon. I might have a solution for it. Can you tell me how he possessed you?", Gaster asked and Gale nodded.

"After I fell down, the demon approached me immediately. He told me, that he needed to do something, what it was he said he couldn't explain, but I would understand, once he was inside me. He offered me help in exchange, said he knew the underground well and would lead me along the right path." He shook his head with a wistful smile. "I was so stupid. I agreed to the deal and let him in and that was when he took over."

Gaster listened intently and nodded at the end. "Good, just like I expected. This means I can help you. I only need about a month or so, then I'll have a machine ready to separate you. However, there is a catch to this method. The device forces the spirit, because that's what it is, not a demon, out of your body and, to make sure it can be completely vanquished, gives it a new body, based on the one it was inhabiting. You will have to face him one last time then, there is no way around it. There is device that simply forces it out, but it would cause severe psychological damage to you or kill you outright." He looked around. "I'm sure no one is willing to risk that. My advice, if you want to prepare, focus on technique, not strength or speed. The new body will be as strong as you are, but the spirit isn't you, so it will not be able to copy you skills that easily."

"So one last battle, I should have known it wouldn't be as easy as a potion or something like that to kill it." Gale sighed. "Oh well, at least that way it will feel like a true end and allow me to come to terms with it.", he said and Gaster smiled again.

"Very mature way of thinking." He looked at Alphys. "I can count on your help in this matter, right, Dr. Alphys?", he asked and the lizard girl blushed.

"O-of c-c-course I'll help.", she said and Gale chuckled at her shyness.

"Well, that's that then. I'll try to improve my technique, with help from dad and Undyne, Gaster will work on the machine together with Alphys and MTT will help me keeping the spirit away at night." He looked at everybody at the table, before a grin split his face. "So, can we eat now?", he asked and everybody laughed.

The meal continued in high spirits, Gaster telling some good jokes, Sans often coming in with bad puns and Papyrus trying to not cringe at his brother's antics. After the meal, Gale went back to his room and sat down his bed, his legs crossed.

"What are you doing?", Flowey asked and Gale looked at the flower.

"Just trying something. There's a chance that have excess to another source of energy, ki, as it is called. It could help me along the way and so far the only way I've found to unlock it, is meditation. Besides, with what we have planned, normal training is out of the question."

"And what is the plan?", the flower replied and Gale filled him in. "So, you have to face Chara in a battle to the death?" He chuckled. "Well, seems like I made the right choice, this will be interesting after all."

Gale sighed and shook his head, the flower was just weird sometimes. He closed his eyes and tried to find his energy, like it had said in the article he had read. At first, he only found a roaring storm, but that was his magic, not what he was looking for. He kept digging, until he saw a bright ball, almost like a star. He got closer to it and reached out, it felt warm. As he tried to tighten his grip around it, it slipped trough his grasp and he tried again. The energy was there, but it felt so finicky, he wouldn't get much further on his own. Sighing, he opened his eyes again, only to find Flowey staring at him, his mouth wide open. "What?", Gale asked, before he looked down. He was hovering a few inches above his bed, before suddenly dropping down onto it again.

"How did you do that?", Flowey asked.

"Don't know, maybe it was the ki. How long was I meditating?" "An hour or so? I don't, didn't check the time.", Flowey replied, before turning back to the TV. Gale sat on his bed in thought. Did he actually control his ki when he floated? Maybe it wasn't about controlling it, but rather letting it flow, like magic. He sighed, he would have to keep trying.

-Chosen Path-

There was a knock on the door and Gaster looked up from his work. They had given him a spare room, that was usually reserved for guests and he was going over a few calculations, before he would compare them to Alphys notes. His successor as the royal scientist was certainly brilliant and she deserved the position in his eyes, though her shyness made it hard to work with her. "Yes? Please enter.", he said as he turned towards the door and watched Gale enter. "Ah, Gale, what can I do for you?", he asked the boy.

"There's something I'd like to talk with you about, I hope you can help me with my problem.", the teenager replied and Gaster smiled.

"Well, I can try at least. Have a seat.", he said and motioned towards the second chair at the table.

Gale sat down and stayed silent for a moment. "I told you, that the spirit keeps torturing me in my dreams.", he began and Gaster nodded. "Well, the night before we got you out of the void, he attacked again, but this time he wasn't alone. He had another being with him, it felt like me, but not like me at the same time. He called it my dark side, I gave it the name Ira." He shook his head. "During our fight I noticed how similar we were and it scared me."

"And your question is?", Gaster led him on, after had fallen quiet again.

"What does this make me? Am I bad, because I feel the same twisted desires within me?", the boy asked, his voice shaky.

Gaster sighed. "Good. Bad. What do these words even mean? It's all a matter of perspective. When I watched the spirit using your body to kill everyone in the underground, I didn't want to kill you, no. I wanted to torture you for what you did to Papyrus, but did that make me bad? Sans wanted to do the same thing, but is he evil because of that?" He smiled at Gale. "Everybody has their darker side, but you kept it subdued, defeated it. You know, that the things Ira wants are wrong and would never act on those desires. That is the only thing that counts."

Gale nodded at that. "There's something else. The spirit said, that he promised Ira something for his help."

"And you're wondering what Chara promised him.", Gaster replied and Gale looked at him surprised. The skeleton chuckled. "I watched you conversation with the king, where you told him about Chara, while I was still in the void." He thought about Gale's question for a moment, then shrugged. "I don't really have an answer for you, but maybe something to think about. You and Ira are both two sides of the same coin, so think about the things that are most important to you and how Ira could possibly see them himself."

Gale nodded and stood up to leave, but when he was at the door he turned around again. "There is another thing. You know Flowey, right? The thing is he has a soul, but its broken apart and because of that, he doesn't have any compassion. Do you know any way to fix it?", Gale asked, but Gaster shook his head.

"I would love to help Asriel, but the only thing that could help heal his soul over time, would be absorbing another soul. Since he's a monster, it would have to be a human soul and I don't think you'd be willing to go that far.", the skeleton replied and Gale left. He made his way over to his room, Flowey wouldn't be happy about the answer.

**AN: So there goes chapter 2. Had a lot of fun writing this one, especially the scenes in the void. Not much else I have to say, only a simple thing for Ira. The word 'ira' is Latin and means something along the lines of rage or anger.**

**The next chapter will be more on the calm side, the calm before the storm if you will. I won't stay in the Undertale universe for long, there are bigger things to come after it.**

**Until next time, Zardas out!**


End file.
